The Ledge of Freedom

As the country celebrates its founding as the United States, we hear and speak a lot about freedom. Yoga’s teachings highlight that our true nature is Freedom. There’s a teaching story called the ledge of freedom. There are many ways of talking about it, but here’s one for our weekend contemplations:

Picture yourself on a mountain pass. The pass winds around the mountain and is super narrow- the inner edge is the mountain, the outer edge is the cliff. If there’s a rock or a small boulder, the obstacle becomes a source of intense stress because if your balance is off by even a little bit, the results could be devastating. If someone is coming down the pass and you’re going up, and you have to navigate now two bodies and perhaps an obstacle, the stress triggers your fight or flight or freeze mechanism. The stress is high- the feeling of danger and being alert is draining and tires you out.

Of the many gifts of yoga and meditation, we cultivate and benefit from an increased inner spaciousness. The path widens. Now there’s more room to walk around obstacles and navigate encounters with others. Even if a few folks come down the mountain and there’s a big rock, there’s more room. The danger of the edge isn’t much of an issue, compared what it used to be. As we continue to practice, the path continues to widen. The fight, flight, or freeze reactivity has an opportunity to rest, calming our adrenals and our nervous system. We no longer are simply on survival mode but can rest inside and thrive as we traverse the journey of life.

This is called the Ledge of Freedom. Same encounters and obstacles, but more room to navigate and abide in peace. May you experience freedom and peace within yourself.